The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1887-02-18
Johnstown's wonderful Gas well
ana the Fortunes IL Has Made.

uniess tney nave Deen over tne rOau DeIOre
within year, invariably look around for
the cause OF noise, not unlike the sound
OF escaping steam, that arises apparently
from the side OF the track, and, for few
seconds, browns the din OF the fastest
trains The strange sound came suddenly
In the night almost year ago, and II shows
no sign Of diminishing yet 1t has made
life in Its immediate vicinity unendurable,
but Tess than one-third of its power sup
plies the heat in manufactures forty miles
distant that support population OF $4,000.
1t has proven ago,d mine to its owners,
aud revelation of unknown power to
thousands. 1t is natural-gas well and the
most famous in the world.
The well is the property OF the West
moreland and Cambria Natural Gas Co. 1t
is neatly $500 feet deep. and the pressure
at its mouth is $50 pounds to the square
inch When the well was "drilled ,"and
of the grouEd in solid column, appar-
emily, and with roar that soon compelled
persons living in the neibhborhood to re-
move to other quarters. As 1t comes from
the well the gas is so dense that 1t can be
seen. 1t has the appearance of blue smoke
Six feet from the mouth of the well the
color is almost white. At that height also
the column closes firm and the gas Spreads
but in the shape of an umbrella turned in
side out, and is lost to the eye. The pro.
1,,., .~f al, l..
20, 100000 cubic feet daily. For a time af-
ter the well "came in" its owners did not
know what to do with it. Every attempt
to control it for "a long time was futile
out Of its mouth as if they were pie ces of
paper. Finally an ingenious appliance for
dividing the pressure was invented, and
the trouble was over.
At an expense of 81 ,O0O,O 900 the West
moreland and Cambria Gas company con
structed a line of pipe connecting the well
with the busy little city Of Johnstowr,
where are the works of the Cambria Iron
company the most extensive combined iron
and steel plant IN the United States. The
pipe is ten inches in diamet er for a dis
lance of Is miles from the well; then there
is 10 miles Of l2-inch pipe, 8 miles of 16-
inch and miles Of 24-inch Only a little
over one-third Of the gas produced by the
well is turned into this line. but the volume
of gas that reaches Johnstown is more
than sufficient to furnish fuel, not only for
every department of the Cambria Iron
company's mills, but for every other manu-
factory and private residence along the
pipe line.
The experiment of the managers OF the
Id'ewild Campmeeting Grounds, about
midway between the well and Johnstown,
will illustrate in some degree the force of
the pressure of 2S0 pounds of gas. An
inch pipe was connected with the main
line 1000 feet from the entrance to the
grounds. At the gate the size of the pipe
was reduced to three fourths Of an inch.
From this pipe branches Of half.inch were
carried in all directions, and at a hundred
places through the grove were run into the
air fifteen feet, the purpose being to secure
a good illumination for night meetings.
turn Of a quarter Of an inch TO the valve
which allowed the gas to enter the distrib-
utiug pipes from the inch main was suflic-
lent to cause the fame to shoot five feet
in the air from each of the hundred stand
pipes, as the branches intended for illu-
mination are called. One evening while
religious services were in progress the
valve broke and the full pressure OF gas
was turned into the mailer pipes. Its
force blew out the flames instantly and
from each of the hundred pipes which but
moment before had spread n mellow light
over the worshippers there came sound
that resembled the shrill notes of factory
whistle more than anything else. Nothing
could be done before morning. The cot
tagers were afraid to light candles or lamps,
because, for all they knew, their houses
were filed with the gas and spcck of fire
might cause an explosions; they could not
talk to each other without shouting them
selves hoarse; could not sleep for the in.
fernal noise on every side, and, on the
whole, the night was most miserable.
What the Introduction of gas has done
for Pittsbnrg can hardly be stated In words.
In addition to having furnished constant
employment for from 5000 to 5000 men at
the work of pipe-aying during the last two
years, 1t has kept eleven iron mills, en-
ploying 1000 men, at work night and day
in the manufacture of pipes. The aggre-
gate product Of these mills during 1886 was
100000 tons. Taking the average size of
the pipe manufactured to be six inches in
diameter, weighing twenty-eight pounds to
the foot, if the product of these mills was
put together it would make a line of pipe
$500 miles long. With these mills making
nothing but pipe-ron, with the quality of
the product of all improved by the use of
gas for fuel instead OF coal, and with the
cost of production greatly decreased, iron
and steel manufacturers do not like to tell
exactly how much they have been bene-
flied. They admit, however, that the total
output OF the mills of the district during
than during the year 1885, and that the
prospect for the present year is equally
good. 1t is an open secret, too, that the
price of bar iron was not advanced at the
meeting of the Western Iron Association
in that city last week, because, with nat
ural gas as fuel, there is more profit in iron
made in that district at two cents pound
than manufacturers in the East can make
selling at two and one-tenth cents pound.
1t may be said; "a pretty picture but
will this natural gas last?" That is ques-
ton that geologists and experts OF every
description confess they cannot answer.
The men who have invested $l4, 900, 900 in
the business OF supplying natural gas in
Pittsburg and the men who have invested
an equal sum in Northwestern Pennsylvania
and the men who during this year will in
crease the total sum invested in these
districts to probably $40,0OO,OOO, believe
! the new fuel has come to stay. 1t is true,
as has been widely heralded, that some
| wells in the 1arentum aud other fields have
given out. But it is so true, and this
| fact has for some reason not been so wide
fa;l ;l,,rn